Connor Blakley used to tell America’s biggest brands what Gen Z wanted. He’s no longer waiting for them to listen
Mark Smucker probably should have taken the meeting. In 2018, Connor Blakley, then 18, mailed a handwritten letter to the CEO of J.M. Smucker Co., the fifth generation of the Smucker family to lead the business. Blakley was pitching the services of his Gen Z marketing consultancy, called YouthLogic. “ I grew up eating Uncrustables,” Blakley tells me. “We all did.” J.M. Smucker Co. executives…
Connor Blakley, now 24, used to advise America's largest brands on how to attract Gen Z consumers, but he has since gone on to create his own consumer packaged goods (CPG) business and launch Jams, a better-for-you frozen PB&J sandwich. The sandwich is making waves in the market, outselling the long-standing Uncrustables in Target stores.
Blakley, a former high school dropout, started his first business at 13, and later founded YouthLogic, a youth marketing firm, at 16. He believes that Gen Z consumers value authenticity in brands more than traditional advertising, and his new venture, Dropout, aims to tap into this multibillion-dollar untapped opportunity. Jams has already taken off, debuting as the NFL Players Association's first official PB&J and gaining traction in NFL locker rooms.
Blakley's strategy involves a mix of entertainment, food, and nostalgia, with athletes, actors, and country singers as equity partners.
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